Venice to Piran

We met up with all our fellow Odyssey cyclists and the Odyssey support team for our morning briefing. This is a well-oiled machine with Isabel leading the way! Our ferry to Piran leaves around 5pm, so we're being taken on a tour of the city by two local Venetian guides; Enrico and Giovanni.

We took the vaporetto back to the main islands of Venice for a walking tour, led by Enrico. We learned much about the lesser known parts of Venice and avoided many of the tourist hordes. We went to a lovely Ristorante for the first of many great meals on the tour, I'm sure.

We got to know some of our fellow travellers, mainly Australian but also some Americans. We are apparently the youngest travellers on tour, but I feel that many are very seasoned cyclists. We may be younger, but I reckon we'll be humbled on the road by many of them. There are also many returnees who have done other Odyssey bike trips.

After lunch, Giovanni took half the group, including us, on a walking tour through the Jewish quarter - the original ghetto. She was very knowledgeable about her city and its deep history. Venice has been a cosmopolitan city for centuries. It started as a place of refuge and became rich as a trading nation.

We made our way to the ferry terminal to take the ferry to Piran. It was about three hours to Piran, so we got to know some of the people on our tour. The Hotel Piran, where we're staying for two nights, is just 150m from the ferry. We picked up the key to our room for the next two nights and went to our room where our bags were already delivered; how good is that!

Given the late arrival, we dined at the hotel restaurant - another great 3 course meal with local seafood.Read more